Weird and Perfect
by Takada Saiko
Summary: Martin learned the hard way when he was younger that those that seem to have all the answers don't always give those away out of the goodness of their hearts, and he's not willing to risk their Drummer Girl hurt. Post Rowdy Reunion. Light Amanda X Martin vibes.


**Weird and Perfect**

He'd thought they were going to die. It had been a long time since that fear had been so real, but the longer he'd hung there, suspended between the grey-blue tiles that had started to remind him of a tomb for the half-coffin he was strapped to, the more he had felt it coming. The hunger gnawed at him and Cross and Gripps went quiet for long stretches that gave his imagination time to run wild. He checked with them and he could hear how their voices weakened with each passing day and he couldn't do a damn thing about it. He'd just hang there until one day one didn't answer. Then, sometime later, he'd lose the other. Maybe if he was lucky he wouldn't outlive them by much. He wasn't sure he could take it.

Then everything had exploded. Literally. The water bottles at either side of his head shattered and more water than should have poured out from them. The glass never had a chance to cut him, though, and somehow he had found himself sitting up in a pool of water, choking on it, and his brothers at his side. Amanda. Amanda had been there, and between trying to remember to breath and the starvation he had been sure he heard her say _lunch_ and point them in the direction of it.

It was chaos, but the more comfortable kind that included feeding and stomping down some baddies that were threatening people they cared about. Vogel just about took them off their feet once the immediate danger had been offset and Martin had held onto the younger Rowdy, ruffling his hair and feeling relief sweep over their link. They were together. He might not know where they were, but they were together and he would never let anything separate them again.

Windamoor. That was the name of the place they were in. It was bizarre and colourful as far as they could see, but the excitement that ran through the little camp and energy that had flooded them after the feeding kept them moving. They danced and hugged and reveled in the fact that they were all close again. Martin had gathered Amanda up in his arms, breathing her scent deep and whispering a soft thank you in her ear. He'd missed her. Damn, he'd missed her, and her arms going around his neck felt like a level of home that he had wondered if he'd ever truly be able to have. They'd only had her for such a short while. It had been like a dream.

Their first night there had been a party that never ended. It was perfect. They had smiled and laughed for the first time in months. It was a celebration, but he couldn't help but notice, even in the midst of all the joy that flooded their senses, Amanda and was distracted. No matter how often someone came for her attention, her gaze always returned to the snail lady Wakti Wapnasi. She didn't smell right, but she had helped Amanda get them out of Blackwing, so Martin was willing to give her at least a little room at first.

They'd been there days now, and it was starting to wear thin. They were friendly enough, welcoming enough, but Martin was getting anxious. So were his brothers. The Bofuki Nepoo were enjoying weaving flowers into their hair and creating something better from the jumpsuits they still wore from their imprisonment, but the Rowdy Three weren't meant to sit still so long. Martin, Cross, and Gripps had been locked in one place for three months. They needed to move.

But Amanda didn't seem to have any interest in moving. She was too focused on this Wakti Wapnasi.

She was spending hours and hours with her each day to the point that she was starting to smell like her. It made Martin nervous. It made him jittery. He hadn't been able to protect his brothers from Blackwing and he'd be damned if they all found each other just to lose Amanda now. He wasn't sure what it was yet, but something was wrong about this. Something bad.

"You do not trust me."

A soft growl left him at the trilling voice behind him. He needed a cigarette, not a forest witch. "I don't _know_ you, lady."

She hummed softly, the sound driving a spike into his brain. He wondered just how far her powers reached. Could she rummage around in there without him knowing? He didn't like that idea. The only ones he was willing to share freely with were the Rowdy Three.

"But you do trust Amanda."

Dark eyebrows drew together. He hated how she said Drummer Girl's name. "Yeah," he grunted. "And she trusts you, but that don't mean she should."

"Why is this?"

Martin stood from the place he had been crouched down, straightening slowly and turning an icy glare on her. He tilted his head a little, his voice slow and deep and dangerous as he spoke. "You come outta nowhere tellin' her you can teach her all these things. Only you have the answers."

"Amanda has the answers," Wakti corrected and Martin stiffened, motioning at her.

"But you've got the way to find them. I've heard the line before. That gives you power over her. Control. Influence." He jumped forward, his movements explosive, and suddenly he was snarling in her face. "Somethin' don't smell right with you, lady, and if you hurt her-"

"Martin? What's going on?"

He blinked, pulling back instantly at the sound of Amanda's voice. He had been so focused in he hadn't sensed her approach, but there she stood, confusion and a little bit of irritation wafting his way from her, and he took a purposeful step back.

"Your friend does not trust me," Wakti chirped and Martin bit back a growl of frustration, but was surprised to both see and feel Amanda soften as he dark eyes came to rest on him.

Her lips thinned out and she motioned for Martin to follow her. He did so after only a breath of a pause and did his best to ignore how he felt the witch's gaze followed him until the moved out of her line of sight. He hoped, anyway. He still hadn't shaken that feeling of ever twitch being watched, but he wasn't sure if that was Windamoor or left over from the latest round of captivity in Blackwing.

Amanda found a fence that she immediately jumped up on to perch on the top bar and fix him with a firm look that didn't quite match the tangled emotions he could feel from her. He couldn't shake the idea he was about to be lectured.

She dug for a moment in her jacket pocket, finally pulling a beaten and worn package of cigarettes that looked like they'd been through hell. She frowned as she opened it and only one bent cigarette fell out with the lighter. A determined look set onto her features as she set to trying to light it, finally pinching some of the broken paper to ensure the smoke traveled through it. After a couple of deep drags she handed it over to him. "Last one. Better make it count."

He nodded and leaned back against the fence, putting the cigarette to his lips and breathing it in deeply. That felt good. The nicotine buzzed through his system to ease some of his tattered nerves.

Amanda sighed next to him. "I know you've got a crazy protective streak, but Wakti helped save us. You, the other Rowdy Three, me…."

"She's using you," Martin huffed, sounding more sure than he actually felt as he passed the cigarette back over.

"How so?"

"Not sure yet, but people like that… the ones with _all_ the answers…" He closed his eyes, fighting the suddenly overwhelming feeling of being caged. He could almost feel the straps across his chest, the metal at his back. He loosed a shaky breath, the words riding out on it. "They take advantage."

Martin jumped a little at the hand suddenly on his shoulder and Amanda handed the cigarette back. He took it and saw his own hand shaking just a little as he did. He didn't think she missed it either and she shifted so that she had a knee on either side of him and she could wrap her arms around him from behind. He leaned back into her, focusing on her and on the smoke traveling down his throat and the fresh air surrounding them. Free. Safe. Mostly.

He tried to hand the shared cigarette back and Amanda shook her head. "The rest is yours," she said softly and he tried to relax into her. She wasn't letting him go any time soon, but he was okay with that. It felt good after only metal and cloth for company for so long.

"She's not Blackwing," his drummer girl murmured after a long moment. "She's not Riggins."

"You don't know that."

"I know you guys would still be stuck in Blackwing without her and Vogel and me would be dead."

"They make you trust them, 'Manda," he said, turning so that he could turn to face her. She needed to understand. He needed her to be safe from the mistakes he'd made before more than he needed to lose himself in the cigarette and her voice and her touch and…. no. Focus. She needed to be safe. "They make you think they're doing it for you, but then they hurt you. I won't let her hurt you."

Amanda was staring at him, her expression pained and she reached up so that her palm rested on the side of his face. "I'm not going to let them get you again, Martin," she whispered, her voice strained.

"This ain't about me."

"Yeah it is." Her tone wasn't accusing. It was soft and tender and he grimaced a little. "They hurt you. I know they did before, and I know this time wasn't better. Martin…." She blinked hard and he watched her dark eyes glass over as her hand shifted to the back of his head. She guided him in and rested her forehead against his, breathing in deeply. "I'm going to do whatever I need to to make sure you guys _never_ go back."

Martin pulled in a deep breath and the scent that was so distinctly Amanda filled him up and eased him a little. It was her. She was there and maybe they would be okay.

"You're special, Drummer Girl," he murmured softly and he felt her finger playing with his hair at the base of his skull. "I can't give you answers how, just that you are. Weird and perfect."

She choked out a laugh. "Weird and perfect?"

"Yeah."

Her smile lit his world and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in, never leaving her seat. He folded in around her in the hug. "You too, Martin. I missed you."

He breathed out a small sound of affirmation and tightened his hold. He couldn't tell the future. He wasn't sure if Wakti would be good, bad, or neutral yet, but he had the people he cared about most with him. That's what mattered most. As long as they were together, he could take on anything.

* * *

Notes: Anyone else madly in love with the Rowdy 3 reunion? Me too. So much. That hug _still_ has me grinning like a loon.


End file.
